The Details:
Since the creation of Valandre in 1980, the Bering jacket has been our flag ship in High Altitude. Conceived in the beginning at the work shop in Belcaire-France under the code name "the B", this parka was developed by Maurice Barrard, president of the Himalayan section of the French Alpine Club.
At that time, in France and in the rest of the world, no parka was usable in an ultra light High Altitude assault without oxygen.
So, Maurice sat down with André Vandeputte (Val-André) and together they started the design project of "the B", B as in Barrard. A jacket designed from the start, with high altitude non ox assaults in mind.
The base of the "B" was a 32 compartment construction, with a lateral compartment separation (front/back) continuous compartment on the sleeves. One of the great achievements in this construction was and still is the 5 different geometrical triangles constructions in the shoulder section.
These 5 different compartments are "over filled" (extreme high density), giving the "B" the look of a Ice hockey shirt, but offering a perfect upper shoulder fit.
Finally 32 compartments fixes the 17.7oz (502g) exactly where it should be, with a density variation from the "over filled" shoulder section, to a lower density filling in the lower part of the jacket.
Specs:
Comfort Rating: -22º F; Extreme: -31º F
Down Load: 16.6 oz./471 g (sm), 17.7 oz./502 g (md), 18.9 oz./536 g (lg), 19.8 oz/561 g (xl), 20.9 oz./593 g (xxl)
Down Quality: Goose 850+
Weight: 40 oz./1134 g (sm), 41.9 oz./1188 g (md), 43.9 oz./1245 g (lg), 45.6 oz./1293 g (xl), 46.9 oz./1330 g (xxl)
Shell: Asahi-Kasei Impact Nylon 6.6 Rip-Stop - DWR
Liner: Asahi-Kasei anti-static Polyester Rip-Stop - DWR
